A Malaysian company that reportedly abused Bangladeshi and Nepali workers would face 42 charges, said the country's Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran yesterday.

Lawyers for two Reuters journalists jailed for seven years in Myanmar on charges linked to their reporting of the Rohingya crisis lodged an appeal yesterday with the Supreme Court -- a last chance of a reprieve through the legal system.

A chickenpox outbreak in Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps has raised a public health concern in the region, officials say.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad reads out the instrument of proclamation, officially signifying Sultan Abdullah's ascension to the throne as the new head of state of Malaysia, in accordance with the laws and the Federal Constitution.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday renewed her call to the international community to force Myanmar to take back its over one million Rohingya nationals from Bangladesh.

Toxic smog forced hundreds of Bangkok schools to close yesterday, as authorities struggle to manage a pollution crisis that has stirred widespread health fears and taken on a political edge just weeks before elections.

The revelation that the personal information of 14,200 people with HIV was leaked has stunned people living with the virus in Singapore.

The head of the UN children's fund urged Myanmar on Monday to implement the recommendations of a panel on the Rohingya crisis led by former UN head Kofi Annan, saying it had yet to create conditions right for the return of refugees from Bangladesh.

Pakistan's Supreme Court yesterday upheld the acquittal of a Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy, dismissing a petition filed by Islamists who have called for her execution.

Dhaka has strongly protested Naypyidaw's allegations that terrorists recently attacked a police outpost in Myanmar from Bangladesh territory, terming those false.

Myanmar's ruling party yesterday clashed with military lawmakers as it proposed steps towards changing the constitution, its biggest challenge in nearly three years to the army's power over politics as enshrined in the charter.

Malaysia yesterday unveiled an ambitious five-year plan to clamp down on corruption in government, months after a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal brought down the previous administration.

A predominantly Muslim area of the southern Philippines has returned a resounding "Yes" in this week's referendum on greater autonomy, boosting hopes for peace in one of Asia's most conflict-torn regions.

A multi-billion dollar China-backed rail project in Malaysia has been scrapped, government officials said yesterday, adding that the cost of building it was too high.

US Congressman and Chairman of US House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel appreciates the government of Bangladesh for hosting the persecuted Rohingyas from Myanmar, and also expresses his hope to visit Bangladesh, see the Rohingya camps and hold talks with various stakeholders.

Rather than creating conditions for the return of the Rohingyas, Myanmar is engaging in a sustained campaign of violence, intimidation and harassment of the ethnic minority, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar said yesterday.

As bullets smashed into the walls, the residents of Alecheung village jolted from their sleep and fled leaving everything behind -- civilian victims of a crackdown by Myanmar's army on ethnic Rakhine militants in an area already concussed by violence.

New government curbs on aid activities in Myanmar's western Rakhine State "are affecting at least 50,000 people", the United Nations has said in an internal note, highlighting the growing impact of recent fighting on the civilian population.

Indian authorities beat and threatened Rohingyas, forcing some to flee to Bangladesh in recent weeks, said Fortify Rights yesterday.

Cambodia's strongman premier Hun Sen yesterday called on his country's military to "destroy" opponents if the government comes under threat, in a tirade in which he described himself as the "the one who steers the wheel" of the army.